


Picking Up Bad Apples

by GothMoth



Series: Ectobers Ectoplasmic Splatters [43]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Adoption, ClockWork’s Here For A Second, Dan The Bastard Man, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Just A Lil’ Bit Of Dan Redemption, Lancer Is Just A Really Good Dude, Light Angst, Referenced murder, Reveal, escape plot, pretty much anyways
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:09:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27240235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GothMoth/pseuds/GothMoth
Summary: Lancer stumbles across an old thermos with some old nightmares inside but maybe this is just a second chance of sorts and a chance for Lancer to get a couple answers.
Series: Ectobers Ectoplasmic Splatters [43]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1511411
Comments: 19
Kudos: 126





	Picking Up Bad Apples

**Author's Note:**

> Ectober Week 2020 Rewind/Cold Case

It was a dark day in the Ghost Zone, the purple miasma was thick and faintly tainted by run off soot and ash from the moss lava pits. While that sent most ghosts curling up in their lairs as if avoiding a rainy day, it instead coaxed one particular ghost out to play. They had recently spotted a place of clocks and gears and it would seem that the lairs inhabitant has flown the coop to deal with the unusually active pits.

So this ghost figured why not explore, a lair unguarded was ripe for the picking. The gears and cogs and ticking swaying things inside casted strange shadows all over the room, making it seem both smaller and larger than it actually was. The ghost senses get grabbed by spotting something that just didn’t fit in, stuck out in fact. A dented and dirty thermos. One that looked identical to the ones that Phantom half creature carried around. Ah the lair this ghost belonged to must be an ally of Phantom’s, though for Phantom to want one of his thermoses locked away and clearly not empty....

The ghost smiles, the ghost inside there must be a powerful enemy. They take the thermos without hesitation, thinking nothing of how cold to the touch it was. Thought maybe a cold containment for a ghost that would chill that half abomination to the Core; or past that, considering the freaks ice Core.

The ghost zips off after that, thermos gripped tight. Never noticing the ghost in the shadows, thrumming their fingers over a long purple staff and smiling mischievously yet almost maliciously. And even though the thieving ghost never spotted them once, they can’t help but feel an ominous shiver run through them as if they were simply a gear cog in some else’s game. 

A purple cloaked staff-wielding ghosts turns their head to a viewing screen flashing into existence, chuckling almost inaudibly. They know that ghost wouldn’t keep their stolen treasure long nor would they release the horror inside. And they feel content in that their charge will hardly find himself having to deal with too much hassle or stress. Someone else though, well they’ve always found themselves rather fond of those that teach the gift of knowledge, especially those that did so for knowledge's sake. 

* * *

William Lancer sighs up at the sky, watching yet another battle between Phantom and some unfamiliar ghost. Though he mentally pauses and pays more attention as he walks fully out of the little local coffee and bread shop, Phantom looked less jovial and more serious than normal. Well, that certainly wasn’t a good sign. Hence why he’s now very smartly making a beeline for his car. He sighs again as soon as he grabs the handle though, spotting Phantom suck the ghost up in one of his ever-present thermoses. What keeps Lancer from opening the door though is how the ghost appeared to be looking around almost frantically for something. And in almost comically typical fashion the second the ghost zips off -likely looking elsewhere- a shiny glint catches Lancer’s eye. Squinting he realises what it is. 

A thermos. Sitting innocently halfway down a rabbit hole at the base of a tree. 

Well... that’s almost certainly what the teenage-looking ghost was after. 

Glancing from his car door handle to the shiny spot, sighing, “well I can’t just go and leave that lying around. What if some kid finds it and, Shakespeare forgive, _opens it._ Who knows what sort of thing is in there”. Decision made, he crosses the street to retrieve the device. 

Picking it up and flipping it around a little, quickly spotting the ‘release’ button and pointedly making a point to keep his fingers _far far_ away. “Huh, certainly lighter than I imagined”, then returning to his car. Placing the thermos -it really was literally a thermos- into the cup holder before driving off home. No chance he was going to be able to chase down Phantom. The Fenton’s practically made a career out of it and never succeed. Further, if the ghost boy spent any considerable amount of time searching he’d wind up attracting the Red Huntress like always; and being anywhere near those two when they were together was a sure-fire way to wind up injured. So home it is. 

Standing at his kitchen table and watching the device sitting innocently on it as he sips at his chai latte, he’s struck by the realisation that this thermos was actually a FentonWorks product. The little flaming green ‘F’ giving that fact away. The Fenton’s did often claim Phantom stole their tech but this one didn’t look quite like the ones Phantom carried with him these days. An old model perhaps? In which case it’s unlikely that ghost stole this from right off of Phantom. Which leaves Lancer with a few options. 

It’s empty and taken from Phantom’s stash. Unlikely. Considering Phantom’s behaviour. 

It’s empty but was stolen from the Fenton’s vault of old tech and Phantom just doesn’t want to get blamed. Reasonable enough. 

It’s _not_ empty and Phantom simply forgot about emptying it when he changed over to the newer models. The ghost _did_ generally behave like an overly heroic teenager, they often forget things. Though arguably Phantom should have looked more sheepish or embarrassed over looking worried and serious in that case. 

It’s _not_ empty and hasn’t been for a very long time, and Phantom actively does not want it to be emptied. Ominous possibility. 

It’s _not_ empty and hasn’t been for a while but the _Fenton’s_ don’t want it emptied; while Phantom likely does. Possibly an ally inside? The Fenton’s would be eager to capture any ghostly ally of Phantom’s so this idea has some merit. 

Electing to sit down and look over the thing more closely, there was an indicator on stating ‘occupied’. Lancer nods to himself, “alright, not empty it is”. Meaning he currently had a ghost in a case of sorts sitting on his table. Amity Park was a strange place to work and live. Though his face lines with worry some as his inspection has revealed some cracks and dents that look to be bordering on bursting outward and open. This thermos was hardly in good condition and there was a genuine risk that he had to consider, a risk that this thing could suffer a catastrophic failure and burst open. Which, if Phantom was the one wanting this ghost to stay put inside, was a very bad thing. It was also really cold, he’s not sure what to make of that though.

Pulling out his phone, he’s never attempted to see if there was some way to contact Phantom. Predictably there’s not. He imagines that if there was both the Fenton’s and the Red Huntress would try to use that as a means to capture him or lead him into a trap. Shaking his head, “sometimes it seems the human ghost hunters cause more issues than the ghosts do”, grimacing, “especially Mr. Fenton”, and shivering slightly. 

So what is he to do now? He certainly can’t simply had this over to the Fenton's, considering the possibility of this holding an ally of Phantom’s. Tapping his chin, “well...”, eyeing his phone and heading to the FentonWorks website, quickly scrolling through their products. The least he could do is get this ghost into a thermos that _isn’t_ threatening to explode. Frowning when he discovers that while the new model thermoses could indeed transfer a ghost from one thermos to another via a little plug, the old models were not compatible nor did they even have the option to do that. The ghost would have to be released first and then recaptured. 

Leaning back in his chair, eyes catching on the ‘containment units’ section of the drop-down menu. FentonWorks sure made everything. Humming slightly, “I could simply release them into a containment unit, the most powerful kind of course, and then recapture the ghost”, tilting his head, “hmmm, or I could simply ask the ghost their opinion of Phantom. No ghost is exactly _subtle_ about their opinions on him after all”. Nodding, he adds that, a thermos, and a few other odd things, to his shopping cart. Blanching a little at the total price but sighing in relief over spotting the Amity zip code based coupon. “I imagine that does rather make sense. Those two would certainly rather have an armed Amity than not”. That was an understatement, considering how eager they were to teach literally anyone to be a ghost hunter. Children included. 

* * *

It takes hardly a day for Daniel to show up at his door with the order, looking stressed and strung out, especially for it being the weekend now. “Thank you, Daniel. You sleeping alright?”.

The boy shrugs, “fine. Just lost something important”.

“Ah well, that’s too bad. I hope you find it”. If Lancer had known certain things, he would have realised Daniel had meant the thermos.

Daniel mumbles a, “yeah”, as he leaves. Clearly the boy must be tired if he didn’t even bother to ask why Lancer ordered FentonWorks products. Daniel was the curious type after all and they got on well. He was tempted to invite the boy to stay, at least for coffee or tea, but Lancer would rather deal with that busted up thermos and he rather imagines Daniel wouldn’t want to spend his spare time helping even someone he was friendly with build a containment cube contraption. The boy got enough of that at home helping his parents. Withering Heights, the boy might have helped build this thing and was possibly sick of seeing it. Lancer knows he can get sick of seeing homework, no matter how well or even humorously badly written it was, after a while. Jasmine’s were honestly the worst for tiring him out, since it could often go above his head to the point were he had to get google to explain things to him. There are times he regrets agreeing to be the on-call substitute for the philosophy and psychology electives. But it was that or health and he wanted to deal with that even less than Jasmine going overboard with her assignments. 

Shaking his head he puts the shiny new thermos on the table and pushes the box to the living room, quickly getting to work. Immediately getting surprised by the set up being a simple press of a button and the thing _assembled itself_. “Fahrenheit 451, that’s one way to avoid user error”. He’s not about to truly complain though, his back would thank them for not having to assemble it by hand. Looking back to the table and the two thermoses sitting there. Well, now arguably was the best time, the weekend had just started so if this took a while he wouldn’t have to take time off classes. Grabbing them up, leaving the new one on his side coffee table next to his old leather armchair. He doesn’t get a chance to place the beat-up one in the containment device as it starts shaking and making banging sounds, so Lancer just chucks it inside in a slight bout of panic. Watching the busted thermos smoke and explode seconds later. If he didn’t know better he’d think someone had planned this, for the thermos to just explode the second he was effectively ready for it to. Almost like some all-seeing god was playing a slight joke on him just to give him a good scare. 

Regardless, Lancer sits in his chair, folds his hands, and waits. Ghosts really couldn’t surprise him anymore and he was used to these sorts of situations by now. Considering the number of times he’s chased a ghost off from students at this point. Honestly? He should get himself an ecto-weapon at this point. Brooms, chairs, and fire extinguishers weren’t all that effective. 

Hearing the deep unsettling cackling and the “finally, I am free”, in a deep baritone voice makes Lancer pretty positive this is _not_ a friendly. Spotting the black and white makes him pause from reaching for the new thermos though. Did Phantom have a _sibling_? or, making out the ghost banging their head on the roof of the box, a _parent_ perhaps? 

“What!?!”. Lancer makes a point to just sit there calmly as the ghost whirls around to face him, the ghost having to crouch over a fair bit while the smoke dissipates. Keeping a calm cool face is a feat Lancer feels rather proud of as this ghost does not look friendly. Sharp fangs, claws, flaming hair, and more muscle than he’s seen on literally anyone, human or ghost, before. What jars Lancer enough to speak is the ghost looking surprised and like he recognises Lancer, “hello”. 

They stare at each other for a bit before the ghost scowls at him, every movement this ghost makes has an underlining feeling of danger to it and Lancer can’t tell if that’s intentional on the ghosts part or just an inherent aspect of the ghost. Watching the ghost tap at the walls of the box and try to form one of those ecto-blasts but it just fizzles out, exactly like it was supposed to. The ghost being able to start forming one at all though, means he’s strong and absolutely needed the highest-rated containment. “Let me out of here, human”. 

Lancer shakes his head slowly, “something tells me if I do that you’ll likely hurt me”. The ghost doesn’t even waste a second in responding with a hint of a cruel grin, “oh far more than that”. Alright, so this ghost fell firmly into the extremely dangerous category. But still, the black and white jumpsuit, the DP symbol. Lancer was a curious man and this was beyond interesting. The ghost was trapped, arguably it could be fine just... talking, right? Well he certainly wasn’t the type to shy away from risks. Shakespeare give him strength and protection, because one William Lancer was about to attempt to have an at least marginally civil conversation with a ghost. One that had already threatened him harm.

“I take it you have a name?”. 

The ghost glares at him and even makes his red eyes flash, which Lancer is well aware is a threat and attempted display of dominance, before huffing and sitting down. He was obviously aware he wasn’t going anywhere for the foreseeable future. Lancer prides himself on being fairly well versed in ghost behaviour at this point. 

“Dan”, the clipped tone makes it clear that ‘Dan’ is decidedly _not_ happy with this situation. If Lancer had to guess, he’d say Dan here had been slowly destroying the thermos from the inside out and thus thought he had finally escaped and was now free to likely go on a rampage of some sort. It was a good thing Lancer decided to grab that thermos. 

“Well hello then, Dan”, pointing towards the ghosts slouched chest, “I also take it you’re related to Phantom somehow?”. Sure assumptions make fools of us all but no two ghosts looked this alike without also being related generally. Phantom having that daughter of his only supports that theory. 

Dan sneers, “yeah? So what if I am? It sure as shit ain’t in the way you think, old man”. That makes Lancer frown slightly. Since the only ways ‘he would think’ would be sibling or parent. Which tells him that this Dan is neither of those. He’s also clearly not the younger-looking ghosts kid though. “Well, you’re certainly not his child, so I can’t say I know what else your relation could be. Though if you were, I find I would have to talk that ghosts ear off about unacceptable grounding techniques”. 

Dan rolls his eyes and scowls some more though looking at Lancer weirdly, “don’t be ridiculous, that brat doesn’t even have any children”. That, that tells Lancer just _how long_ this ghost has probably been sealed away. Three to twelve years at least. Though Elle Phantom might be older than that, it was rather hard to tell ages with ghosts. 

“He does actually”. Lancer’s going to elect to not give out any more information than that. He wouldn’t want to cause issues for the local town hero. 

Dan gives him an almost unreadable expression at that. A mix between confusion and something almost akin to envy or jealousy, “he... does?”, before quickly settling back into aggressive unfriendliness and snapping, “whatever”. Lancer has a feeling this ghost was rather on the tired side, understandable if he spent years trying to bust out of a thermos from the inside. Dan scowls deeper and growls at him, “if you don’t want to be seeing your insides on your outsides, you better let me out of here”. Lancer has a feeling that Dan both does and doesn’t really mean that. Oh he’s sure that this ghost absolutely _would_ probably try to, maybe even succeed, if he let him out, but he thinks the ghost almost doesn’t want to. 

“You’re welcome to try but I doubt you can get out on your own”. Dan immediately snarls all teeth at him but doesn’t actually look like he’s putting in any real effort. Just coming off threatening by nature and easily. 

Lancer decides to try throwing the ghost off a little, “do you just threaten violence out of habit? Do it because it is what you’re used to and know?”. He asked Daniel something similar not to long ago when he found the boy genuinely skipping and just sitting on the bleachers. He doesn’t know why Daniel skips and leaves so often but he knows there’s an actual reason usually. It had been reasonable to question if Daniel skipping without reason was due to the delinquent label he’s been labelled with and him just accepting that role. Daniel hadn’t genuinely skipped like that since and had looked genuinely concerned by his own actions. “Do you find you’ve been labelled as violent or even a monster and feel you might as well fit it. Since you’re going to be called that anyways. A self-fulfilling prophecy if you will”.

Dan squints at him and gives an almost disbelieving, “are you psycho-babbling at me?”. Which effectively catches _Lancer_ off-guard. That was a phrase he was more than familiar with but from _Daniel_ and often in reference to his sister. Dan rolls his eyes, “I don’t have to answer or listen to you, _old man_ ”, and _turns his back on Lancer like a petulant child._ Or like an adult that never got told no and had the power to make sure no one actually even could. But, Lancer could almost feel the tiredness coming off the ghost at this point. He must have put everything he had into getting out, only to be immediately trapped again. That would be rather exhausting. But... Lancer has a bad feeling about this ghost now, and it had little to nothing to do with the threats and aggressive demeanour. Especially spotting a bit of the destroyed thermos and seeing a timestamp of all things on the bottom dated just under _seven years into the future from now._ Lancer thinks he may be in over his head, but whenever he was he finds tea always helps. 

Lancer gets up, “that’s quite alright. Do you want anything to drink?”, and heads towards the kitchen, probably throwing the ghost off just slightly by turning his back on him. That’s probably not something anyone has ever done to this ghost before. Lancer decides he’s right when Dan gives an almost absentminded and automatic sounding response, “green tea matcha and red bull”. Lancer pauses at that a little before moving to the cupboards, there was another little pang of familiarity. He could not even imagine anyone other than Daniel asking for that mixture, which in Lancer’s opinion sounded disgusting every time he begrudgingly offered the boy exactly that when he came over for help with schoolwork or even just to vent. That bad feeling just actively got worse. 

Handing the mixture through the cube, though making very sure not to let his hand go through. Watching the ghost completely ignore him in favour of sipping the drink. Dan actually sounds almost close to impressed though condescending at the same time, huffing, “well look at that, you mixed it right. Guess you’re not a totally useless sack of flesh”. And there’s that feeling getting even worse. Lancer stands, studying the ghosts face, the shape of his shoulders. Which Dan notices and snaps after a bit, “what”.

Lancer shakes his head and moves to sit back down, sipping at his chamomile tea, “I have the knee jerk reaction to simply say ‘nothing’ but it’s not nothing. You have a level of familiarity about you”. 

Dan huffs, “do I look like I care if I remind you of someone, old man”, but doesn’t bother turning around to face Lancer. 

“I’m only forty-six, Dan. I’m not that old”. Lancer finds he actually had to intentionally not call the ghost ‘Daniel’ there. Which only makes him notice how similar those two names are. ‘Dan’ could easily just be short for ‘Daniel’, much like ‘Danny’ was. The only response Lancer gets that time is a huff and while politeness states he should offer the ghost a blanket, he doubts that blanket would avoid being destroyed by a ghost with a clear violent streak. 

So Lancer sips at his tea and studies the ghosts back, he doubts there was a single muscle on his body that wasn’t defined and as fit as possible. He can tell the ghost is tall, impressively and probably imposingly so. He tries to picture Jack, with his broad shoulders and large hands, but without the fat. And thinking of the ghosts face, Daniel had a strong jawline and high cheekbones, like his mother. Daniel had muscle too, though hidden under the ill-fitting ratty clothing; and was definitely hitting a growth spurt. If the time stamp on the thermos was to be believed, then this ghost was seven years older than Daniel... Lancer, he could imagine Daniel looking something like this if he focused on working out or started getting into fights all the time. This ghost clearly did the latter. Watching the ghost lay down and curl up, practically identical to how Daniel would on the couch, doesn’t decrease his suspicions. 

And just like Daniel, the ghost passes out with only a little of his drink left in the can. Lancer debates just sticking his hand in and grabbing it but while he’s grown a serious spine over the years, he’s not reckless; regardless of his current suspicions. So he uses a novelty grabbing tool he had laying around to reach through and grab the can, not even flinching when the ghost's arm shoots out, grabs the tool and yanks it in; pushing himself up and snarling with a grin all the while. Lancer watches with the most unaffected look he can muster as Dan looks at the tool and then him. 

The two stare at each other for a bit before Lancer decides to simply say, “sleep well”, as a way of slightly getting back at the ghost for the very blatant murder attempt. The ghost scowls and destroys the tool, crushing the can as well and chucking both out of the containment cell before laying back down. 

Lancer cleans in the kitchen, he’s sure Dan noticed the thermos he left on the coffee table, so the ghost was certainly aware he could simply get stuffed back into another thermos. Which must be rather frustrating and yet, the ghost was being surprisingly tolerable compared to what Lancer was expecting from a ghost. He wasn’t attacking the box and the little attempted attack had been calculated. Frowning slightly, it was like Dan knew he’d take the almost empty can away. Sure that was the polite thing, but... he’s thinking it might be more than that. He’s almost sure actually. Obviously, if that timestamp was to be believed, then this ghost was absolutely from some kind of alternate timeline and got captured by Phantom in this one. Years ago he would have written that sort of idea off as preposterous, but after getting mind-controlled by plants and teleported into an alternate dimension a few times, time travel and alternate timelines doesn’t seem so far fetched. 

Sighing and putting down the scrubbing brush before walking back to the living room, staring down at the definitely sleeping ghost, “oh Daniel, what happened to you”. 

The sad thing is, Daniel... dying isn’t that much of a surprise. He catches some of the injuries Daniel would show up with, and he knows he doesn’t spot even half of the ones the boy got. And ‘Dan’ looking like Phantom only makes him more sure of a worry he’s had over Daniel for a while. Phantom had access to Fenton tech, so clearly someone who frequents the Fenton household was helping the ghost. He knows Jasmine wasn’t the type and the Fenton parents barely tolerated Phantom’s continued existence. That left Daniel, Samantha, Tucker, Dash, Kwan, and Star. Dash and Kwan weren’t smart or sneaky enough in his opinion. Daniel was honestly his primary suspect and this, this feels like confirmation. Because the Fenton’s did have a strong theory that frequently being around ghosts can encourage someone to become one and frequently being around a very specific one could make your ghost look similar. If Daniel was helping Phantom then they were close friends and Daniel was very close and practically attached at the hip to his friends. If he was friends with Phantom, then he was around him _a lot._ So it could be possible maybe that he, as a ghost, would copy Phantom’s jumpsuit some. Looking the ghost over, of course he was quite different; the cape and fire hair and eye colour and skin colour for example. Elle looked much more like Phantom than Dan did. So more distantly related-looking than directly. He can’t help smiling a little to himself at the ghost practically snuggling the cape up to his face like a blanket. 

Lancer decides he’s going to sleep in his armchair, leaving Dan alone was probably not the best idea. Likely being an older Daniel or not, he was clearly not a ‘good’ ghost. How that happened he’s not sure. Almost doesn’t want to know but he’ll ask. Daniel was one of his problem kids. Practically adopted as one of his own kids. He’ll help where he can. 

* * *

Lancer wakes up to the sight of Dan laying on his back, his legs sticking straight up on side of the box, feet touching the boxes ceiling; fiddling with his claws and clearly bored out of his skull. The ghost huffs, clearly hearing Lancer shuffle around as he woke up, “what, decided to stare me down all night”, he sounds annoyed but like it was fake annoyance; like he was just making a jab purely to complain and hear his own voice. Considering how hard it could be to get Daniel to be quiet, the boy probably did like the sound of his own voice; add in the ego that Dan clearly had. 

Lancer rights himself and stretches out a little, “leaving a ghost napping in my living room didn’t seem like the smartest idea”. Dan snorts at that, sounding almost insulting, “then why did you”, the ghost seemed genuinely confused by that but wasn’t about to actually genuinely come off as confused. 

Lancer decides not to take that bait, instead leading the conversation towards what’s a bit more pressing in his opinion, “does ‘Dan’ happen to be short for ‘Daniel’?”. Lancer has his answer before the ghost even opens his mouth, watching how the ghost stills for a second before resuming nonchalantly toying with his claws, “so what if it is, _Lancer_ ”. 

Lancer hums and tries to not seem bothered, “so you are the same Daniel then”. 

Dan rolls his eyes, “oh shove that concerned tone up your ass. Fuck if I care if I used to be some pathetic pip-squeak”. This ghost wasn’t even trying to hide it, he didn’t care if Lancer knew or not. 

“Language”. 

Lancer can tell the grumbled “sorry”, was a knee jerk ingrained response. Nice to see the teacher voice still worked on him. Dan scowls almost immediately after at the air, looks to him and snarls, “I’ll talk however I bloody well fucking want to, _Mr. Swears Using Book Titles_ ”. Lancer nods acceptingly like he always does when _Daniel_ comments on that little habit of his. And he wasn’t about to claim he expected to be able to control this ghost, he could barely control Daniel as it was. He’s pretty sure Daniel only listens to him at all out of a bit of respect and fondness. He’s well aware he’s the boys' favourite teacher, or more specifically the only teacher the boy actually liked. 

Dan huffs and goes back to acting like he’s ignoring him. Lancer sighs and looks the ghost over, “how’d you end up like this, Dan”, it would probably be best to use the ghosts chosen name, ghosts supposedly didn’t usually react well to using their living names if they changed them after death, according to the Fenton’s anyway. 

Dan gives a very sarcastic, “oh wee, this another attempted therapy session. What are you now? A doctor”, rather than an actual answer. Which Lancer rather expected, he doubted this adult Dan would be any less evasive than the teenage Daniel. 

Regardless Lancer answers honestly, “no, I’m still a teacher and the vice-principal. And I mean my question less as therapy and more as genuine worry”, drawing his eyebrows together while the ghost side-eyes him, “I’ve always worried about you since you started Highschool, though I don’t think I paid quite enough attention in the beginning. And I can’t say you, this future version of the young man I’m familiar with, is making me less worried. So I’m left wondering what in Shakespeare’s name happened to you in your timeline. For you to be violent, aggressive, and unkind like this”, sighing, “that’s not mentioning the fact that you’re a ghost and thus very much no longer amongst the living”. 

Dan snorts and rolls his eyes, “well that’s a very pc way to say ‘dead’”, then pauses and turns his head to look at Lancer, “my... timeline”, Dan squints at him, which still somehow has an edge of threatening to it, “how do you know about that”.

Lancer points to a bit of the remaining broken thermos, “there was a future based time stamp on the bottom of that”, well at least that confirmed his alternate timeline theory. This Dan was not the same Daniel that he knows, or at least not yet. 

Dan looks to the bits of thermos and scowls far more angrily than Lancer has seen yet and smashes it apart with his fist while growling, “that meddlesome prick time ghost. Bastard probably planned this”. Lancer’s almost surprised Dan stays laying on the floor. Dan huffs clearly in anger, though it’s not really all that angry, just vaguely angry. “You should be glad, you’re dead in my time”, snorting, “and all the town put on your stupid little headstone was ‘gone’. You must feel _so loved_ ”. Lancer absolutely knows Dan said that purely to be mean, true or not. He knows he should probably feel hurt or bothered by the town apparently not caring much about him, but really he just feels sad; since Daniel has never been one to be mean for the sake of being mean. He decides to say nothing, as Dan continues, “least my _dear old friends and family_ -”, the way he said that makes it sound like he’s disgusted by their entire existences, “-got ‘but not forgotten’ added on”. 

Lancer leans back into his chair a bit, so that’s it, his entire support network died excluding Valerie. And from the sounds of it, all at the same time. That could absolutely change a person. Did he die at that time to? “What about you?”. 

Dan looks to him and actually smirks, “you know, it’s rude to ask a ghost about their death”. 

“I don’t imagine you’d be the type to be bothered”. 

Dan huffs, “damn right”. Lancer thinks he almost might hear the ghost sigh before continuing, “I didn’t die that day. No. I got shipped off with dear old _uncle Vlad”_. Lancer's eyebrows shoot up in shock at that, Mr. Masters was Daniel’s uncle?. “No one even knew I died. Not that I give half a damn what all those soon to be dead idiots knew or didn’t know”, then chuckles and looks slightly pleased with himself. 

Lancer blinks, “the mayor is your uncle? And ‘soon to be dead’?”, this conversation might be getting away from him a bit. 

The ghost visibly jerks from that and sits up, quirking a definitely disbelieving eyebrow, “how the Zone did that psychotic old man wind up mayor? Just how stupid are you people. Even your current me knows that man got his wealth through bank robbery and tricking people into bad sales deals. Then there’s the whole murdering anyone who gets in his way thing”, shrugging and smirking, “not that I’m any different. At least I just kill people because it’s _fun_ ”. 

Lancer stares at him for a bit, his tone is telling him that wasn’t a joke or some attempt at being threatening. And sure he had a feeling Masters was sketchy and that would explain the extreme animosity from Daniel early on. “He has done some... questionable things but he got the government to pay for all the ghost-related damages. And I guess all politicians have some black in their books”. Dan gives him a very sarcastic, “uh-huh”. Lancer ignores that, “and you’ve killed people?”. 

“Most of humanity actually. By the time that fool ClockWork set me up to get captured there wasn’t very many survivors left”. 

Lancer has a hard time believing that, “why”, this Daniel had turned out a lot worse than just unkind and violent.

Dan grins, all teeth and fangs, responding with, “why not”, like there really wasn’t a reason not to kill people. The ghost clearly finds something about his facial expression funny, “come now, what more do you expect from someone without any humanity”. 

Lancer absolutely notes how he said ‘no humanity’ rather than ‘dead’ or ‘ghost’. “So you lack morality, empathy, and sympathy? Clearly don’t care if you get people hurt or if people realise you're dangerous and aggressive. Akin to a sociopathic psychopath”. 

Dan snorts and rolls his eyes, “and back to the psychology”, chuckling, “you could call me that. You’re welcome to take a page from Jazz and try to ‘correct’ that, see how far that gets you. How wonderfully badly that would turn out would make for a good page-turner”. 

Lancer shakes his head immediately, “personality disorders can’t be altered really. Managed maybe, not altered. I’m more wondering how you could have developed like this in seven to ten years”. The Daniel he knows absolutely did not lack morality. If anything he could be _too_ caring and selfless. Does death really change people so much? “Or was dying simply unkind on you?”. 

Dan snorts, “blame Vladdie. He’s the one who decided tearing out a fourteen-year-olds humanity was a good method to fix depression”. Lancer nearly chokes on the last of his tea at that, both over Masters actions and that this Dan died at _fourteen_. Well, at least he doesn’t have to worry about his Daniel going down the exact same road. But even still, Dan was still Daniel in a sense. Still his problem child, just far _far_ further in the problematic category. Less bad apple more unapologetic villain. 

Turning his head to eye the FentonWorks box, he couldn’t exactly just _leave_ the ghost in the containment case; and Phantom clearly just wanted to seal him up forever in a thermos. Which goes to show that even the town protector, that let Undergrowth and Vortex go free, thought Dan was simply too dangerous to be free. Taking him to the Fenton’s and thus Daniel was, frankly, out of the question. And Lancer had ordered something else, just in case whoever escaped the containment case. A collar guaranteed to completely block a ghost's powers excluding their ability to take form, keep them within a specified area, and make them unable to touch the key holder without getting zapped bad enough to apparently knock the ghost out; it also had a feature that would make a shield around the holder if anything recently touched by the collar-wear was thrown at them. Looking back to the ghost, who’s laying down again with his hands behind his head and staring at the ceiling, he thinks Dan didn’t actively passionately want to hurt people rather he just found it... fun. Lancer could probably find other things for him to enjoy, video games for example. Because it was quite fine someone happening to be a psychopath or even just a violent person, so long as they weren’t channelling that into hurting people. Which while Dan has made it pretty clear he liked hurting people, scaring them, and just, in general, being frightening; he probably has never channelled it any other way. Likely didn’t even know how. In a way, he was still a child, someone with a severe personality disorder that never got the help they needed and had precisely no one to even try helping them. If Lancer were to guess, he’d imagine Dan also had a serious sadistic side. He knew Daniel could tip into being a bit sadistic out of pettiness, with Dan that aspect was likely amplified and no longer hindered by morals or a conscience.

Actions decided, Lancer nods to himself and gets up, “how would you feel living here? Spending eternity in a thermos hardly sounds pleasant or even deserved for anyone, no matter how bad”. 

That quickly gets Dan’s attention, but he doesn’t look malicious or even eager, rather confused, “do you actively want to die?”, shrugging, “I don’t mind, but you’re a bit nuts”. 

Lancer shrugs as he digs in the box, “I've smashed that Plasmius ghost over the head with a broom, you’re not the first to say that”. That gets a genuine laugh out of the ghost, it’s decidedly a very mean laugh but still a laugh. Turning around with the collar in hand, having already unlocked it and clipped the key inside his belt; probably better the ghost doesn’t know where the key is, since he was clearly willing to try and kill him without hesitation. Dan scowls at it, “what am I? A mutt?”.

Lancer shakes his head immediately, “hardly, Dan. But, To Kill A Mocking Bird, I certainly can’t let you out of there while doing so would let you use whatever powers you may have or while being able to kill me. Which is clearly what you’ll do if I let you out as is right now”, sighing and shaking his head, looking obviously disappointed, “then you’d likely go right back to what you were doing before, which is apparently hurting and killing people”, lifting up the collar, “this will keep you from leaving, using powers, or hurting me. As far as I’m concerned that sounds like a better deal than being shoved in a thermos or left in what’s effectively a box for the rest of your days”. Dan scowls but holds his clawed hand out, Lancer has a feeling he’d stand up if the box was tall enough. Dan snatches away the collar with a snarl but puts it on surprisingly without complaint. 

Lancer can’t say he’s really surprised though when the first thing the ghost does is chuck a cup very hard at him the second Lancer deactivates the containment device. Lancer makes a damn point not to react to the green shield shimmering over his skin that the cup just bounces off of. Dan just huffs and stands up, stretching out. Making Lancer have to look up at him, he was taller than he thought. “Can I ask how exactly I died. I’d personally rather avoid that”. 

Dan continues stretching as he replies, “oh just one big fireball of explosive hot sauce curtsy of the Nasty Burger”, putting down his arms, “you confronted me about intangibly stealing the C.A.T test answers”. 

Lancer blinks, so _that’s_ what happened? He actually _did_ stick his hand through a solid object and take them. Dan shrugs, “accident sure, but what does that matter”. 

Lancer shakes his head, “how you or he got those is one cold case I never could figure out, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised there’s something it that house that can give someone ghost powers for a bit”, shaking his head again, “a random ghost virus did do that to the whole student body after all”. Dan gives him a slightly amused looked but goes and collapses into the chair instead of saying anything. Lancer would bet money on him missing things like chairs, though he doubts the ghost will admit to it. 

Lancer shakes his head, something tells him that Daniel very much knew of Dan and everything surrounding him, maybe got Phantom’s help dealing with him. That might explain how frazzled Daniel had looked that day and how insistent and intense he had been about claiming he wasn’t a cheater. “You know, you’re smarter than I gave you credit for, Lancer. If you had dropped me off with _dear old mom and dad_ I would have killed them eagerly. After all, that’s what I came to this timeline to do”, he chuckles, “had to make sure they died so that boy would become me after all”. 

Lancer grimaces at that, he didn’t doubt that Dan enjoyed the way he was but seeking to make sure basically the worst possible thing happened to him was extreme. Then again, many people would go to extremes to ensure their own existence and really that’s all he had been doing; and the lack of morals would make him unable to truly see it as wrong. Still absolutely wrong though, he’s not about to actually make excuses for murder of all things. He just simply can understand and see why Dan would do that. 

Lancer elects to grab another tea instead of commenting on Dan’s murder plot. Apparently that makes the ghost feel the need to continue, “and the Danny that walked in to take that test that morning?-”. Lancer snaps his head back to the living room at a flash of light. Blinking at what looks like a fourteen-year-old Daniel moving to sit cross-legged on the chair. The mean smirk on the boys? face as he rests his chin in his palm, collar around the neck, and a flash of red eyes; is all that gives away that this was not a few years younger Daniel. “-That was me”, he even sounds like Daniel used to. Watching him thumb at the collar, “too bad this is still visible. Oh well”. Making Lancer realise he had had a plan to ‘deal with’ the collar. 

Lancer shakes his head, “well I'm glad that plot didn’t work out for you”. He’s not going to inform the ghost that Daniel doesn’t look like this anymore. Dan snorts and gives an almost bitter, “of course you are”. Reminding Lancer again of a petulant man-child. 

Lancer decides to hand him over one of the espresso latte things Daniel usually had when he woke up after sleeping over here. He’s going to have to warn Daniel of this situation eventually. The slight surprise is much easier to notice on a face Lancer is far more familiar with, “why the fuck do you know everything I like”, that sounds more like an accusation than a question. 

Lancer shrugs and sits on the couch, he preferred his armchair of course but he doubts Dan will move if asked. If anything the ghost might make a point to constantly sit there purely out of pettiness. “Daniel comes here at least once a week and I help him with his schoolwork or just hang out”. 

Dan blinks at him, “you’ve got to be fucking me. Seriously”, rolling his eyes, “damn do-gooder”, then smirks a little, “go ahead, invite him. I’m sure that will be _interesting_ ”. 

Lancer glares slightly, “don’t get any funny ideas, I’d warn him about you beforehand”. Dan just chuckles and smiles meanly before sipping at his drink. Lancer is secretly a bit glad when Dan changes forms to look as he originally did though. 

After a bit Dan looks annoyed Lancer thinks, catching him scratch under the collar makes Lancer pretty sure he’s annoyed with his situation. Lancer doesn’t doubt he’d rather fly off and fall right back into his old habits. Just like pretty well any drug addict or alcoholic that hasn’t hit rock bottom yet. For a ghost rock bottom was probably being destroyed though; if left to their own devices anyway. But Lancer, and Phantom and the ClockWork ghost frankly, have effectively forced him to rock bottom by taking away the option to continue in his ways. It was more than that though. Dan wasn’t in his own timeline anymore, hadn’t lost the people he did there or done the things he did there. This time still had everyone, including Lancer, and didn’t know Dan as some big bad supervillain. The undefeatable boss villain. He effectively had a chance to try again, even if the physical/psychological damage he sustained couldn’t be undone. And if Lancer had to guess, three or so years in a thermos was a long time to think and chill out. Before what was effectively solitary confinement Lancer doubts the ghost would have been even half as receptive or tolerant to him as he had been. Thinking of that morning before that test, everything Daniel -or apparently Dan- had said had felt like a malicious death threat. Of course he had brushed it off back then, he hadn’t been nearly as worried about the boy as he should have been back then. Eyeing the ghost, “I know you probably hate this, but try to see this as a fresh start. A lack of freedom doesn’t mean you can’t still enjoy yourself”. The ghost huffs so Lancer continues, “you’ve gotten the chance to rewind back to before you hurt anyone, messed anything up, or lost anyone; most people who go down the dark and twisted path don’t get that chance. So don’t mess it up”.

“That supposed to be a threat?”.

Lancer shakes his head, “no, more like some good advice that I can only hope you’ll take”. The ghost just huffs at him again. 

* * *

By the time Dan falls asleep again, this time in a proper bed which Lancer is pleased with himself over the ghost not complaining or threatening him over, Lancer’s decided informing Daniel immediately was likely the best course of action. Nothing stopped Dan from using his phones after all, he very well could use Daniel’s voice to coax his parents or friends over to ‘free’ him. He’s going to need to install a camera system to keep an eye on Dan. 

Picking up the phone and speaking as soon as he hears Daniel’s tired “ _Lancer_?”. Even though the boy knew his first name, he basically never used it. 

“Now this might be a bit surprising though I doubt you’ll need as much explanation as most generally would in this situation, but... I may have stumbled across an alternate villainous timeline version of you in a thermos and offered him a place to stay. He’s sleeping in the guest room”. Beating around the bush seldom worked well with Daniel. 

He can hear and practically physically feel Daniel choking and falling out of bed on the other end, “ _ **WHAT**_!”. 

Lancer decides to explain further before he has a panicked teenager come rushing over, “I got him into wearing one of those restraining collars that I believe you bragged about once or twice. So please don’t worry about my, or anyone else’s, safety”.

_“Like Hell I won’t!”._ Lancer can hear him scrambling up, _“wait. Is **that** what you ordered?!? Why you ordered all that stuff? How long have you **had him!?!** Lancer, are you **nuts**?!? He was locked away by what’s effectively a **god** because of how dangerous he is!”_. Lancer’s pretty sure he hears the boy mumble, _“I’m going to **kill** ClockWork”._ Which really just confirms what Lancer already knew. Daniel was involved with ghosts, specifically Phantom. 

Lancer nods pointlessly to himself, “I had him in the containment unit for a while, the thermos he was in pretty well exploded. I don’t doubt him being ridiculously dangerous, Daniel. He was surprisingly forthcoming with information. I’d say it’s fair to say he is a psychopath at the very least. But you know as well as anyone that I’m not the type to give up on problem kids”.

It takes a bit for Daniel to respond and Lancer has a sneaking suspicion he’s stopped halfway through crawling out his window, _“...he’s... not a kid and... **how** forthcoming”. _

Lancer can’t help laughing slightly at Daniel’s typical paranoia, “I know what led up to him being the way he is and that our mayor is far more immoral than I thought he was. And don’t even bother trying to claim you aren’t at the least helping Phantom. In fact, I’d place bets that you get your injuries from effectively side-kicking for the town hero”. 

Lancer isn’t quite sure what to make of the slight hint of relief to Daniel’s voice, _“um, heh. Please keep that to yourself? Are you... **sure** you’re safe?”. _

“He did attempt to pelt me with a cup but the collar works quite well. I’m fine, Daniel. However, he can still look like you, which is a bit disconcerting. But I decided letting you know about this situation might be a good idea before he tries to use your voice to call people or something of the sort”. 

That actually gets Daniel to laugh, _“yeah, that is something he would do. But Lancer, if you’re serious about this then, by the Ancients, be careful. He is very officially and legitimately considered to be the single most evil ghost in existence, which yeah doesn’t say a lot of good things about me. He’s also one of the most powerful, he makes Pariah look like a fly and Hitler look like pacifistic humanitarian deserving of the Nobel peace prize. If you’re trying to reform him then seriously don’t get your hopes up, the most you could do is get him to behave himself. Psychopath and no humanity aren’t the same, Lancer”._

Alright Lancer will admit that does make him slightly uneasy, but it doesn’t change things. The ghost absolutely was behaving... marginally. “I know better than to let my guard down around a ghost, Daniel. But I’ll heed the warning. Part of the reason I wanted to call you though, is regarding our ‘hangouts’, I can’t say I’m sure if it’s smart for you to be coming here. He’s effectively trapped in here and can’t hurt me, but you’re a rather different case. Especially as I know you aren’t fond of wearing Spector Deflectors”. 

Daniel grumbles a bit incoherently and Lancer can hear a window closing. _“Well keep me in the loop about him. Especially if you have issues or feel in danger. I’d actually **prefer** to still come over, if only to check on him... maybe rub it in his face and warning him to stay the Hell away from my folks and friends”_, Daniel sighs, _“don’t worry about me though. He can’t hurt me. For a lot of reasons”._

Lancer leans against the counter, he’s not gonna blame the boy for being paranoid, Dan had point-blank said his goal had been killing Daniel’s/Dan’s family and friends... and Lancer himself. Daniel mocking him though, that probably wouldn’t actually be helpful, “I’d rather you not pester him too much unless that seems like a positive thing anyway. But if you’re sure about your own safety then you’re welcome to come by as you wish like always”. 

_“Good luck getting him not to pester me. He banters and mocks more than I do”._

Lancer chuckles at that, he believes it. “That doesn’t surprise me. Though may I ask why you never mentioned that Mr. Masters was your uncle?”.

Daniel again chokes on the other side, _“is that what that assho-annoying pain in the butt told you?!? Seriously. Oh my Zone”,_ sighing _, “okay no. Vlad **wants** to be my uncle, or father. It’s actively creepy. I, and guess fu-reaking Dan too, call him uncle and other variations to mock him. I am his official heir though, not by choice. Guy has a serious possessive issue. Oh, don’t let Vlad anywhere near Dan. He’ll try to eat him... again”._

That makes Lancer choke a little, “he... _ate_ Mr. Masters???”, alright, that is very much alarming. Cannibalism wasn’t even off-limits. 

Daniel chuckles awkwardly, _“yeah. More complicated but that’s the gist. And don’t even tell Vlad about Dan, he’ll probably try to release him”._

Lancer sighs at that, before today he probably would have found that hard to believe. “I won’t. I didn’t trust that man yesterday, I trust him far less today. Anyway, I should probably head to bed, as should you, so you have a good night and do try not to worry yourself”. 

_“You’re joking about me not worrying right? Because I’m worrying. I’ll be worrying for a month. But fu-Ancients am I glad that monster’s not running around free. I was already aware his thermos was missing, hence why I looked all stressed and sh-tuff when I dropped off your delivery. So, like, thanks for letting me know this cra-ziness. Night Lancer, try not to get strangled or disembowelled in your sleep”._

Lancer thinks that is unnecessarily ominous. “Ah well apologies for making you worry. Night”. Both of them hanging up at that point. 

Lancer heads up to the master bedroom, staring at the door to the guest bedroom for a bit before sticking his head in quietly. The large ghostly lump that was Dan laying under the blankets was hard to miss. Good. He was still, possibly, asleep. He’ll leave the ghost to that, though sure, he’s going to be locking his bedroom door for the foreseeable future. 

**End.**


End file.
